Expansion of Sundrop Farms seawater horticulture project approved by Port Augusta

This seems to be a sensible project for an arid country - Where's Tony and Joe? 

Surely they could knock it on the head before it gets out of hand. More coal mines Hey Joe?


Wed 13 Aug 2014, 7:46am

PHOTO: Solar-thermal power helps Sundrop grow vegetables in an arid climate.
MAP: Port Augusta 5700

A horticultural project that uses seawater to grow vegetables, Sundrop Farms, will be expanded with the backing of South Australia's Port Augusta Council.

Sundrop Farms uses solar-thermal energy to desalinate water from Spencer Gulf to grow food in greenhouses about 20 kilometres south of Port Augusta.

The company was planning to build eight more greenhouses and supporting infrastructure across a 20-hectare site.

The expansion would include a solar-thermal station with a 115-metre tower and 11,000 stands with mirrors to power the operation.

There would be several seawater pipelines and a visitor centre to help promote tourism interest in the venture.
The ABC Catalyst program checked out the Sundrop growing venture in its arid landscape.

Port Augusta Council's development assessment panel approved the expansion if environmental conditions were met for the management of brine extracted from the water.

The planned solar-thermal generator for the horticulture project would be smaller than one proposed for an upgrade of Port Augusta's currently coal-fired power stations nearby.

Price gouged by Virgin Australia

OK, so I only paid online for our checked baggage for the return flight from Adelaide, stupidly thought the flights may have been linked on Virgin Australia's computers. No problem, my mistake, I understand the need to pay for extra baggage compared to passengers who have very little and it is very useful for the airline to know what baggage to expect from a loading point of view.


Virgin Australia charged us $40 for the first bag and then $60 for the second bag - two people traveling together, our bags weighed about 25 kgs in total, the luggage allowance was 46 kgs for the pair of us. If we had have booked the flights individually the second bag would have only cost $40.

How does that work Virgin Australia, particularly when you don't have a surcharge for the second bag when booked online?

The price online for one leg of the flight for the checked luggage was $24 (2 bags)

And how does Virgin Australia justify the $76 booking fee to check 2 bags at the airport. The handling etc is just the same for online checked baggage, are their employees paid so handsomely that it cost $76 to process a credit card, a two minute transaction.

I repeat, yes it was my mistake, but why Virgin Australia did you have to charge so much extra?

I almost forgot, we sat in the departure lounge well past the boarding time, I over heard that the Captain was running late - we departed about 15 minutes behind schedule, now I know why we were charged so much more for out luggage. The Captain had the "pedal to the metal" all the way to Adelaide - we arrived on time!

And one last question Virgin Australia:

When I print my own boarding pass on my printer using my ink - why does it take so long to get through "baggage drop"?

Posted with Blogsy by Ozbendigo